Production of knitted fabrics



March 2, 1943, A. F. GUY LER ETAL 2,312,334

PRODUCTION OF KNITTED FABRICS Original Filed Jan. 29. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

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March 2, 1943.

A. F. GUYLER ET AL PRODUCTION OF KNITTED FABRICS Original Filed' Jan. 29, 1941 2 sheets-sheet 2 \Mvan'hmi P G-UYLEK BDAL I STANL Y Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRODUCTION OF KNITTED FABRICS Albert Fairholme vGuyler, William Henry Boaler, and William Ewart Stanley, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corpora-r tion of America, a corporation of Delaware Original application January 29,1941, Serial No;

376,432. Divided and this application August -19, 1941, Serial No. 407,398. In Great Britain February 3, 1940 I r 8 Claims. (Cl. 66-195) jI-his invention relates to knitted fabrics and circular series of needles, and while the knitting especially to warp-knitted fabrics, i. e. fabrics cams may be rotated relatively slowly so as to comprising a large number of warp threads keep down the speed of the moving parts the proknitted together and running, on the whole, parduction is multiplied by the large number of cams allel to the length of the fabric in which they 5 employed. In spite of the high rate of produc- 4 are knitted. The application is a divisional aptlon, the knitting action is very steady, so proplication of U, S. application Serial No. 376,432 ducing very little noise, vibration or wear, the filed January 29, 1941. It i an object of the machine pos s e this r spe t the advanta es present invention to provide novel Warp-knitted of speed and steadiness possessed by multi-feeder fabrics in tubular form. 10 circular knitting machines while producing warp- According to the present'invention, a tubular knit fabrics of a kind that have hitherto been warp-knitted fabric comprises a large number oi P d ed O y in machines having heavyflnd warp threads knitted together in a plurality of r pidly reciprocating p each si in of a, continuous helical courses of stitches, the relarge u e o knitting elements Similarly and peated knitting of each stitch into a preceding simultaneously Operated. stitch forming a large number of wales crossing The invention thus provides for the production said helical series, each warp thread being conin tubular form of fabrics that have hitherto been fined to a few of said wales and passing from p ed y n e at f The f c, beone wale to another between successive stitches 8 already in the form of a tube does not need into which said thread is knitted. Since each 150 be S up in that form for p poses of inthread moves to and fro over only a few wales of p i n n subsequent pr s in y the fabric, being knitted n only a few memes finishing and the like. In fact, as the steadiness oflthe machine on which it is produced, the of-the machine on which the fabric is produced number of threads necessary in the series of warp enables it to be p ced, in large e s if threads for producing a tubular fabric is exactly sired, On an pp floor, the fabric, as t is fo med equal to the number of needles, or in exceptional d W o being Wo y P directly from cases to a multiple or submultiple thereof. It is t ma n t r u h t fl r. to be i sp t d not necessary, as it is in U. s. Patent No. 1,998,474 nd w und on h fl or below. Having no ed es describing the production of fabrics of th to curl, the fabric may be wound as a neat roll Milanese type, to provide a number of threads without creases. slightly greater or slightly less than the number y y of p o o s of fab ic seof wales to all for th met th t th th d cording to the invention will now be described are moving always in one direction or the other in greater detail Wi h r ference to the accomhelicallyround the fabric and across the wales Denying d a in w c of the fabric, a Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of an idealised A meth d a d hi for producing tubular form of fabric which enables the tubular strucwarp-knitted fabric according to the invention hire of the fabric to be s ed, and form the subject matter of U. S; application Se- 2 is a w Similar t 1 of a fabric rial No. 376,432, which describe in detail the containing w tad as W l a warpmethod and mechanism for bringing about the 40 knit threadsappropriate relative motion between the warp The fabric s own n 1 s an idealised thread guides and a series of independently movfabric having O y l6 Wales, in Order that the able cam-operated needles in a circular knitting tubular Structure Of the fabric y more readily machine, By the method and machine thus debe followed, though it Will be understood that scribed, a circular series of threads are knitted commercially satisfactory fabrics will have many in turn into previously formed stitches, and, in hundreds, or even several thousands of wales. the intervals between the occasions on which The figure is a distorted view of the fabric, obeach thread is knitted, that thread is guided to tained by looking downwards on the tubularand fro within a small range circumferentially fabric as it is produced on the machine and of said circular series, whereby each thread is imagining the lower part of the tube as increasconfined to a small number of wales in the reing gradually in radius and at the same time suiting warp-knitted fabric. By this continuous rising up to the level of the uppermost edge, method of knitting a very high rate of producwhich consists of the stitches last knitted. tion can be achieved since a large number of sets The fabric is such as would be formed on a of knitting cams may be arranged round the machine having two sets of knitting cams, and

the loops indicated at 85, 88 are the loops last formed by the two sets of cams respectively. The shaded threads 81, 88 arefed by one series of guides, which are moved according to a 1 x 1 pattern, and it will be seen that these threads form short floats, each passing from one wale to the adjacent wale. The floats thus formed in each thread extend alternately in opposite directions round the fabric, flrst in the same direction as the knitting cams as indicated at 81 and then in the opposite direction as indicated at 88.

The plain threads indicated at 89, 90, are controlled by a series of guides moved according to a 2 x 2 pattern, and form longer floats, each extending from one wale to the wale next but one, alternately in opposite directions. Thus the long floats 88 extend in the same direction as the knitting cams and the long floats 80 extend in the opposite direction. As may be seen by following back the loops of the fabric, starting at loops 8!, 88, the loops form two slow spirals round the diagram, representing two slow helices of loops in the tubular fabric as actually knitted. The next loops to be formed after the loops 85, 88 are to be formed from the threads 9|, 92, which will be drawn through the loops indicated at 83, 94 to form fresh loops similar to the loops 85, 88 and the preceding loops.

Thus the fabric exemplified in Figure l-is a two-bar fabric having a 1 x 1; 2 x 2 pattern. By moving the guides in the proper manner and by the provision, if necessary, of more than two seriesof guides, multi-bar fabrics of many other types may be produced.

Since knitting .proceeds continuously from needle to needle by means of knitting cams, instead of proceeding simultaneously on all the needles at once, weft thread may be introduced into the fabrics at any or all of the sets of knitting cams employed in the machine. Figure 2 is a diagram similar in nature to Figure 1 and differing from that figure only by the provision of weft thread, fed at each of the two sets of knitting cams employed. The weft thread is indicated by a. thick black line as may be clearly seen, for example in the loops 83, 95 and it will be seen that this thread follows the slow spiral path of each of the two series of knitted loops formed by the two sets of knitting cams. The two ends of the weft threads are indicated at 96, and these threads will be drawn, together with the warp threads 8!, 92 through the loops 93, 88 to form fresh loops similar to the loops 85, 86 last knitted. Instead of knitting the weft thread in the ordinary way as described above, the weft thread may be laid in by suitable manipulation of sinkers and needles. Thus, heavy effect threads, or rubber threads may be incorporated in the fabric in this manner to produce a distinctive appearance or to give a high degree of elasticity to the fabric.

Patterned fabrics may be produced according to the invention. In general, the patterning will be limited by the number of sets of knitting cams and by the maximum range of movement of the thread guides but any desired degree of patterning within this range is possible. In addition, pattern effects may be produced, with bearded needles, by a suitable manipulation of the pressers' employed for pressing the beards of the needles. It will be understood that any patterning that may be produced in the way of longitudinal or zigzag stripes and the like, by employing warp threads of different colour or other characteristics arranged in a desired order may readily be utilised in the present invention.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a large number of warp threads knitted together in stitches into which said thread is knitted.

2. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a plurality of sets of warp threads, each consisting of a large number of warp threads, knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming alarge number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread being confined to a few of said wales and passing from one wale to another between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted, all the threads of each set passing in this way in the same manner as one another and independently of the remaining threads.

3. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising .two sets, each consisting of a large number of warp threads, knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread ofone set passing alternately to and fro from one wale to the adjacent wale and back between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted, and each warp thread of the other set passing to and fro from one wale to the next wale but one and back between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted.

4. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a large number of warp threads knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, and at least one weft thread incorporated in the fabric and extending along at least one of said helical series of stitches, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread being confined to a few of said wales and passing from one wale to another between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted.

5. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a large number of warp threads knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of r stitches, and at least one weft thread extendin along and knitted into each stitch of at least one of said helical series, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread being confined to a few of said wales and passing from one wale to another between successive stitches into which thread is knitted.

6. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a plurality of sets of warp threads, each consisting of a large number of warp threads, knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, and-at least one weft thread extendmg along and knitted into each stitch of at least one of said helical series, the repeated knitting of each stitchinto a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread being confined to a few of said wales and passing from one wale to another between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted, all the threads of each set passing'in this way in the same manner as one another and independently of the remaining threads.

7. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising a large number of warp threads knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, and a weft thread for each of said helical series incorporated in the fabric along the length of said helical series, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series,'each warp thread being confined to a few of said wales and passing from one wale to an other between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted.

8. Tubular warp-knitted fabric comprising two sets, each consisting of a large number of warp threads knitted together in at least two continuous helical series of stitches, and a weft thread for each of said helical series knitted into each stitch along the length of said helical series, the repeated knitting of each stitch into a preceding stitch forming a large number of wales crossing said helical series, each warp thread of one set passing alternately to and fro from one wale to the adjacent wale and back between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted, and each warp thread of the other set passing to and fro from one wale to the next wale but one and back between successive stitches into which said thread is knitted.

ALBERT FAIRHOLMIE GUYLER. WHLIAM HENRY BOALER. WILLIAM EWART STANLEY. 

